A Bold and Enduring Faith - Dcn. Susan Raekede

A reading from the letter to the Hebrews.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living

God. But recall the former days when,

after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with

sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and

affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated,

for you had compassion on those in prison.

And you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property,

since you knew that you yourselves had a better

possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your

confidence, which has a great reward, for you have need of

endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may

receive what is promised for yet a little while, and the coming

one will come and will not delay.

But my righteous one shall live by faith.

And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed,

but of those who have faith and preserve their souls, the word

of the Lord. Good morning, Emmanuel, and

welcome to the first sermon in our Hebrew series, Walking By

Faith. When I was a kid, I remember one

time hanging out in a mall bookstore back when malls were a

thing, waiting for my mom to finish running her errands, and

I came across a book with a title that I thought was boring,

but an author's name I thought was interesting.

The author's name was Watchman Knee, and the book was called

The Normal Christian Life. But I had some time, so I

flipped to the front of the book and I read What is the Normal

Christian Life? The object of this study is to

show that it is something very different from the life of the

average Christian. Indeed, a consideration of the

written word of God should lead us to ask whether a normal

Christian life has ever in fact been lived upon the earth, saved

only by the Son of God Himself. The Scriptures are not stating

something special or peculiar, a high level of Christianity.

They are presenting God's normal for a Christian.

And I was really intrigued by this idea that there was a

difference between kind of the average Christian life and the

normal Christian life, that the life of faith as presented in

Scripture is somehow something totally extraordinary but also

completely normal. And as we journey on in Hebrews,

we're going to be confronted with a whole list of Saints.

Men and women, we are not asked to admire but to imitate.

We're not asked to imitate their fame or to copy their noteworthy

deeds. We're only asked to live by

faith and to die by faith as they did.

And in today's Hebrew passage, two particular qualities of

faith are highlighted again and again.

And it seems that these two qualities are not highlighted

because they are markers of special faith or rare faith, but

actually because they are basic necessities for every follower

of Jesus. These are qualities that you and

I need to call upon Jesus to develop in us as we follow Him,

qualities without which we will not be able to complete the

journey of faith. What are these qualities?

Please look in your Bible or your bulletin at verses 35 and

36. Therefore do not throw away your

confidence which has a great reward for you have need of

endurance so that when you will have done the will of God, you

may receive what is promised. So what is it that we must not

throw away anyone confidence? And what is it that we have need

of endurance? Yes, confidence and endurance.

Now confidence can also be translated as boldness.

But this is not boldness. That's bravado, which is a show

of boldness designed to impress or even to intimidate.

It's not arrogance. It's not presumption.

It's actually not even healthy self-confidence.

It is nothing more or less than taking Jesus at his word and

moving through life in the assurance that his promises are

true. Now, Hebrews is kind of an odd

book. It's kind of a letter and kind

of a sermon, and nobody knows who the author is.

We do know that he wrote to a group of Jewish Christians with

whom he had a close and I think a very pastoral relationship.

And just for the sake of convenience, I'm going to be

referring to the writer of Hebrews as their pastor.

So in today's passage, the pastor is exhorting the Hebrews

to walk by faith, with boldness and with endurance.

And what's interesting right away is that it's clear that the

Hebrews have done this before The pastor is act, asking them

to actively draw on the memory of how they have trusted Jesus

in this way in the past. Verse 32.

But recall the former days when after you were enlightened, you

endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being

publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being

partners with those so treated. The Hebrews, to whom this letter

was directed, lived in a time and place where Christianity was

super unpopular, both politically and socially.

Christians weren't actually being killed.

They weren't martyred. But it was open season on

Christians for mocking, for hassling, for property theft,

and even for a sort of religious profiling by the law enforcement

of the day. And the phrase you endured a

hard struggle with suffering in the Greek, is meant to evoke the

rigors of an athlete in training.

They this picture likens the faith, the life of faith, to an

obstacle course that is strewn with suffering.

It takes effort to overcome. Now, some of us here today may

have experienced long periods of time when we were able to kind

of glide along in faith without too much trouble.

Maybe belief in Jesus was the status quo where you grew up,

and walking in faith was a little like sailing smoothly on

untroubled waters, maybe even with the current.

But for anyone who experiences significant obstacles to the

life of faith, please know that suffering and obstacles, not

ease, is the norm for those who follow Jesus.

The vast majority of the New Testament was written to

churches who were struggling with all kinds of threats and

obstacles to faith. Some specific hardships are

listed here. You were sometimes being

publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being

partners with those so treated, where you had compassion on

those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering

of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better

possession, and an abiding one. Now the Greek word, translated

as public exposure is. Theatre zome.

The early believers weren't just being subtly insulted or snubbed

in one-on-one encounters because they were Christians.

Walking by faith meant they were popular targets for ridicule and

mockery on the scale of theatrical entertainment for the

masses, as if it were a group sport to make fun.

Now I feel like imagining the horrors of this degree of public

shaming is. Easier than ever these days, has

anyone here happened to witness someone being taken down

publicly by a mob or trespassing against the spirit of the age?

And I'm not talking about someone being held responsible

for wrongdoing. I'm talking about someone who

voiced a faithful but extremely unpopular opinion that then

triggered a dog pile of indignant ridicule and insults

and jeering. Maybe, like you, like me, have

seen it and have gotten a little sweaty and squeamish at the

realization that that could be you.

Our Hebrews brothers and sisters didn't have to imagine it.

They lived it. Not only had they suffered

insults and mockery in the public eye, they took financial

hits because of their bold faith.

Some lost their property. Some lost their freedom when

they were falsely accused and imprisoned.

Nonetheless, the Hebrews had held on to their faith boldly

and endured even when they could have escaped notice by standing

quietly by when their brothers and sisters were taking the

heat. They opted instead to publicly

partner in ministry with those who were being pilloried.

I'm kind of in awe of these believers and these obstacles

that they overcame so gracefully.

For any of us who might be tempted to feel anxious or

indignant about the possibility of, say, losing friends or

losing income or even facing legal problems because of our

faith, it is really wonderful to know that we can do something

other than cry foul and clutch her pearls.

Sure, it may be unjust, and yes, those losses are real.

But the response of bold and enduring faith is not only to

accept the sufferings of injustice, but to accept

joyfully. The Hebrews lived out their

confidence that Jesus was providing a better possession

and an abiding freedom greater than anything they might have

held in life. This is the bold faith of a

people who took Jesus at his word when he said, blessed are

you when people hate you, blessed are you when they

exclude you. Blessed are you when they revile

you and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man

rejoiced in that day. For behold, your reward is great

in heaven and yet and yet. The reason for this letter is

that these same amazing Saints have come to a point in the

journey of faith where they seem to be in danger of abandoning

their confidence in Jesus. The language of verse 35, Do Not

Throw Away Your Confidence refers to the act of casting off

something useless or flinging away garbage from context.

Clues throughout this letter. It seems that they've begun

flirting with the idea of turning back, of stepping away

from Jesus, thinking about loosening their grip on the

promises of God in hopes of avoiding criticism, avoiding

conflict that was becoming more and more appealing.

And they were toying with adopting a new approach to

faith, not walking in confidence with endurance, but shrinking

back, laying low. Keeping their heads below the

parapet, lying under the radar. The trouble was, this strategy

was not nearly as sensible as it might have sounded.

In fact, it was the beginning of a trajectory that, if it went

unchecked, was going to result in catastrophe bit by bit, their

healthy, robust fear of the Lord alone.

Would be replaced by an ugly, self-serving desire to please

and appease powerful people. Instead, love of God and love of

neighbor would be sacrificed to be replaced by love of

reputation and love of social status.

But they didn't see it this way yet, and it seems they were

willing to justify this approach even from scripture.

Better theologians than I am have decoded the message of the

Old Testament prophets that we see quoted in verses 37 and 38,

which points to the possibility that the Hebrews have been

digging through the prophets to rationalize a new tactic, this

new tactic of shrinking back. In these verses, the author has

Frankenstein together some snippets from the prophecies of

Isaiah and backup. There's a passage in Isaiah that

begins yet a little while, which is quoted in verse 37.

And the balance of that passage counsels the people of God to

withdraw and conceal themselves through danger.

And they were applying that by applying that counsel to their

current circumstances. They might have thought that

they'd found kind of a respectable rationale for laying

low. But the writer of Hebrews.

Knows that this is actually an abuse twisting of Scripture.

And so he takes that snippet from Isaiah and then he pairs it

with a passage from Hebacic. That sort of turns that strategy

on its head and instead gives the strongest possible

encouragement to live by faith boldly in the power of the

Messiah. Who would come 37 for yet a

little while, and the coming one will come and not, will not

delay. But my righteous one shall live

by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in

him. Brothers and sisters, we are not

meant to live the life of faith slumped inside on the couch with

the strades drawn. We are meant to walk by faith

outdoors among the people, with cheerful acceptance of any

suffering that might come our way.

Pressing on toward the day when Jesus has promised to turn the

world right side up again and right side out again.

A day when we receive the reward of faith and we can bask with

our brothers and sisters in the glorious sunshine of the Father

and the Son in the Holy Spirit. Faith that is hidden, that is

kept covered, is faith that weakens and dies because.

Paradoxically, one thing that seems to really, really help to

strengthen faltering faith is engaging in an environment that

provides a lot of resistance to faith.

As Christians, we tend to kind of interpret suffering as

punishment, and sometimes suffering is correction, But

here we're taught that suffering is often simply resistance

training. It's the type of training that

Jesus himself was perfected by. Isn't that amazing?

Heber states earlier that it was fitting that the Father, in

bringing us to glory, should make the founder of our

salvation, Jesus make him perfect through suffering.

To grow in endurance, we have to exercise our faith.

When we tackle physical challenges, oxygen pumps in and

out of our lungs and blood pumps in and out of our hearts, and

our bodies are strengthened by this exertion.

When we tackle spiritual challenges that come in the form

of suffering, one of the basic things that we can do is we move

in and out of the church doors regularly and with a vigor.

One big critique of these Hebrews is that they were

neglecting the regular gathering of the Saints for word and

sacrament. They weren't heeding the call to

come into church, and they weren't heeding the call to go

out forth into the world in the power of the Spirit to survive

and thrive in the midst of suffering.

Nothing extraordinary is required of us to stay healthy

and to grow. We simply heed the basics of

quiet obedience, moving into the church for worship and moving

out into the world in mission. In and out.

In and out. We learn to walk in faith, as

Jesus himself did. The measure of endurance is

obedience to God. That's what verse 36 is getting

at. You have need of endurance.

So that when you have done the will of God, you may receive

what is promised. Now in this fallen world, broken

by sin in a million ways, every human being, Christian or

otherwise, will undergo suffering.

We're all born not only into suffering, but also into sin and

into death, and this is our natural state.

But Jesus, the coming one, the one who has come, made a way

through suffering that actually leads us out from under sin and

death. Suffering is a given, but the

promises of God in Jesus are for freedom and deliverance from sin

and death, and we can, by the grace of God and the ministry of

Jesus and the power of the Spirit be saved.

All that is required is that we throw ourselves into His arms.

In faith, we hold to the promises of Jesus and walk

faithfully with him and toward him one step after the other,

without turning back. Now, when I think about the need

to persevere in faith, even when things look like they are going

horribly wrong, I think about what it's like to pull on.

A tshirt. So a long time ago I went

swimming at a classmates house. This was when I was maybe eight

or nine years old. And when we were done swimming,

somehow I was assigned the task of helping my classmates, 3 year

old sister, change out of her swimsuit and back into her

clothes. Now she was not the most

cooperative little kid I'd ever met, but to be fair, she wasn't

too pleased that I, a virtual stranger, was put in charge of

her. But she did OK until we got to

the part where I asked her to raise her arms so I could get

her into her tshirt. We started the procedure.

She raised her hands, but suddenly she started screaming

her head off and refused to cooperate.

I had no idea what was going on, but it turns out she was mad

because she thought I was trying to trick her into putting her

shirt on backwards. So you picture a tshirt.

There's a Unicorn or a pony or something printed on the front

of her tshirt. But of course from her

perspective looking up into it, it's as if I'm trying to pull

the shirt over her head. The pony's all wrong.

It was inside out and backwards and she was just not having any

of it. I tried so hard to explain how

this worked. Yes, I tried to reason with a

toddler. I told her sure, things are

going to look and feel crazy and wrong.

Pulling a shirt on just for a minute, but in the end her

really cool pony would be right side out, just the way she

wanted it for the whole rest of the day.

She would have to suffer momentarily, but if we kept

moving forward, salvation was at hand.

Tragically, she was not willing to endure the suffering.

I tried to shorten the period of pain by wadding up the shirt so

it was just a ring of cloth. She couldn't see the pony inside

or outside. I was just going to pop it over

her head a real fast, but Nope. She clung to her disbelief.

She crossed her arms and she shrank back.

She decided that she would rather remain damp and cold and

clammy, then accept the warm beautiful clothing that have

been provided. Now I know this is a goofy

analogy, but the reality of this is really sobering.

There is suffering in this world that we do not understand and

that we cannot avoid. We are born wet and naked and

cold, and we are going to die of it unless someone clothes us.

But there is suffering too, in being clothed with righteousness

and salvation. Things are upside down and

inside out and backwards, and it requires faith.

To persevere, trusting the Lord for salvation involves voluntary

suffering, the type of suffering that we might be able to avoid

for a season if we turn back. Opening our arms up to the Lord

in faith is vulnerable and uncertain and scary.

We are exposed in a way that we don't have to suffer if we

shrink back. But if we shrink back, we never

get to the promise. If we stop living in faith, we

don't reach the end and the reward of faith.

Now, let me be very clear here, the Hebrews addressed here.

We're not frightened children being punished for not trusting

a stranger. That's not the analogy.

These were grown, experienced men and women who had already

been met by the faithfulness of God.

In their suffering they had already tasted the salvation of

God, and they were already actively receiving the

compassion of Christ. In their weakness.

They knew from experience what they are reminded of repeatedly

in this letter that we do not have a high priest who is unable

to Sinner with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has

been tempted as we are. He can deal gently with the

ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with

weaknesses. The kind of shrinking back that

leads to destruction is not the natural, hesitant response to

threat. The Lord has infinite patience

for our native weaknesses. He knows some, he understands

some. The type of shrinking back that

leads to destruction is willful abandonment.

Of the walk of faith. It is the gradual but

intentional turning away from the love of God to embrace

unbelief and sin. Instead it is a deliberate

throwing away of a confidence already possessed.

It is a defiant closing of the ears against the wise calling

voice of the Savior. It is a hardening of the heart

against the salvation. So freely offered and the one

who offers it, these Hebrews were in the very early stages of

rejecting God. Discouraged by the prospect of

continued suffering, they were tempted to let go of the wheel

and just start drifting with the current.

And they didn't need comfort in this moment or advice to just

relax. They needed to wake up.

And remember that in Christ Jesus, salvation is already

close at hand and it's time to press on in face.

Now, I never succeeded in getting that little girl's shirt

on, but when her older sister finally came over to help, she

was dressed in like 10 seconds. Why?

She couldn't trust the promise, the process, and she didn't

trust me, no matter how truthfully I promised her that

it was going to work out OK. But when her own sister showed

up and said the same thing, she was able to trust the process

because she trusted the person. When your faith is not only in

the promise of the reward, but in the one who promises, it

turns out you can not only endure suffering, you can

receive it with joy. Now, later in my life, I learned

that watchman knee. Was born NI Chutsu in 1903 in Fu

Chao, China, and he took on the name Watchmen in both English

and Chinese when he became a follower of Jesus.

For 30 years, he led a beautiful, fruitful ministry in

China and in Southeast Asia, and he persevered through all kinds

of suffering, poverty, multiple chronic illnesses.

Infighting from political factions inside his own church

and after the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949, Watchmen

Knee returned to China from his work in Hong Kong in order for

the churches he had planted there, which were now in

distress and suffering because of political opposition to their

faith. Knee was arrested in 1952 and

spent the rest of his life 20 years.

Imprisoned in a labor camp where he died, one of his biographers

wrote. Humanly speaking, he died in

misery and humiliation. Not one relative or brother or

sister in the Lord was with him. There was no proper notification

of his death and no funeral, but he died with this note under his

pillow. Christ is the Son of God.

Who died for the redemption of sinners and resurrected after

three days? This is the greatest truth in

the universe. I die because of my belief in

Christ. Watchmen Knee.

So in some sense, Watchmen Knee was not an average Christian.

Because of his boldness and endurance, approximately 400

churches were raised up in China.

In the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Highland Indonesia.

But in another sense, Watchmen Knee was surrounded by a Gray

cloud of witnesses. Ordinary, normal believers who,

like thee, simply persevered obediently in faith and during

the Cultural Revolution, overlapped that same time

period. 1966 to 1976 the communist regime undertook a

plan to eradicate Christianity, and yet millions held fast to

their confession of faith. The Christian Church in China

held a firm with Catholics remaining at 3,000,000 and

Protestants growing from 1,000,000 to 3,000,000 during

this 10 year period. And we won't know.

The stories of these individual believers until we meet them in

heaven. But we share the same promises

that they held fast, and with them we can testify that He who

promised is faithful in the name of the Father and the Son and

the Holy Spirit. Amen.